Memorial wall

When Bryce Bock - a Riverside Elementary School kindergartner - looked up at his father's name that was among nearly 600 other veterans listed on yellow-paper bricks on the school's veterans' memorial wall, he had a profound look on his face.

• Photos

Who knows what was going through Bryce's mind at the time on Friday, but the one thing that's certain is that the kindergartner is happy that his father is home. Bryce is the son of Sgt. Eric Bock, who served in Iraq with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 194th Armor in Brainerd, in 2004-05.

Riverside Principal Cathy Engler said the memorial wall has been a school tradition for the past 12 years. Each year, students write down names of any family members who are veterans on a brick and then it's displayed on the wall. Engler said the first year the school had a tree and the students hung a flag of their veteran, but the tree was too small.

On Friday, Riverside Elementary School kindergartner Bryce Bock looked at his father's name that was among nearly 600 other veterans listed on yellow-paper bricks on the school's veterans' memorial wall.

Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey» Purchase reprints of this photo.

"We got the idea of the memorial wall from the Vietnam War," Engler said referring to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. "We wanted to teach our children what a veteran is and make a meaningful connection for them. We want to teach our children to respect those who served our country."

Rose Robison, a Riverside foster grandparent and volunteer and a member of the Brainerd VFW and American Legion Auxiliaries, has helped Riverside with the memorial wall. Robison said it's important for students in grade school to know the meaning of what a veteran is and to respect them. Robison said the students at Riverside say the Pledge of Allegiance every day and know that they should stand up when they see a flag in a parade.

Robison said at past Veterans Day programs at the school, students always shook hands with the color guard members.

Riverside third-grader Rebecca Smith said she was taught to always respect the flag. Smith said it's nice that Riverside has a memorial wall because it shows that many of the students at the school know "somebody who wanted to help our country."

Smith has a brick on the memorial wall for her great, great uncle Albert Larson. The brick reads that Larson was an army paratrooper and he landed on the beach at D-Day in World War II. Larson's uniform is on display at Camp Ripley.

Anna Vreeland, another third-grader, has two bricks on the wall: Her late grandpa Jack Laimer served in the Korean War, and her brother, Beau Vreeland, is on his second tour in Iraq. Vreeland said she misses her brother, who left for his second tour about four weeks ago.

Classmate Shaely Rakow has a brick on the wall for her cousin, Staff Sgt. Joel Peterson. Rakow said her cousin was wounded in action and that was scary. Rakow also has a brick for her late great grandpa LaVerne Schuety, who served in World War II.

"This is my first year at Riverside and I like how they do this veterans' wall," said Rakow.

Second-grader Jarret Crandall said Riverside's memorial wall is cool. Crandall said he knows what a veteran is and that they keep our country safe. Crandall said his cousin, Fredrick Borders, is serving in Iraq on his first tour.

"It was sad when he (Borders) left," said Crandall. "We're pretty close. When he's home we do everything together."

Engler said certain bricks on the memorial wall stay on the wall each year, such as the Bataan Death March survivor Henry Peck. Another brick is for Alfred Pousson, who served as a gunner on the USS Arizona that sank during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Pousson is the great grandfather of Josh Diebold, who is now a student at Nisswa.

Pousson's brick states that he was blown off the Arizona and he survived by swimming under water, which was on fire from the oil.

Riverside will honor veterans at 9 a.m. Tuesday with its Veterans Day program.

JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.